[2026. 1. 25.] Why Can’t People Believe? | John 5:30–47

[2026. 1. 25.] Why Can’t People Believe? | John 5:30–47

Sermon by Rev. Jinkook (Danny) Sohn (Hope of Heaven Baptist Chuch) 

 

2026. 1. 25. 주일예배 설교- 요한복음 강해 17
본문: 요한복음 5:30–47
제목: 왜 믿지 못하는가

설교자: 손진국 목사 (하늘소망교회)

 

Last Sunday, we shared about the question, “Why should we believe in Jesus?” Jesus Himself spoke directly about why people should believe in Him. But after explaining those amazing reasons why He should be believed, He also directly explained why people do not believe in Him.

Everyone, why is it that people cannot believe in Jesus? Is it because there is not enough evidence to believe? Is it because the explanation is insufficient? Of course, that may be the case for some.

However, in today’s passage, Jesus clearly tells us the reason people cannot believe. The problem is not that they do not know who Jesus is, but that they do not want to believe.

Today’s passage, John 5:30–47, digs most deeply into the root of unbelief. Through this Word, I hope we will examine the elements of unbelief that may also exist within us and take time to stand firmly again in faith.

 

1. Because They Trust Their Own Judgment More Than God’s Will

When we make decisions or choices, we often do so based on our own judgment. This is not just the behavior of a few special people, but the condition of all humanity. What does this mean? A representative characteristic of humanity after sin is trusting one’s own judgment.

During Wednesday worship, we have been sharing from the book of Genesis. Last Wednesday, we talked about “the punishment God gave to sinful humanity,” and in that passage, Genesis 3:22 says this:

[Genesis 3:22] And the LORD God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.”

What was the result of disobeying God’s word and eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? It says that man became like one of us in knowing good and evil. What does this mean? Here, “us” refers to the Triune God—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In other words, human beings became like God in deciding good and evil. Is this a good thing? Is it something positive? No. It is the opposite.

Knowing good and evil is God’s role, but now human beings no longer leave it to God. Instead, they decide for themselves according to their own judgment. This means that humans have taken God’s place and begun to act as if they are God, judging good and evil on their own. If humans could correctly know good and evil and choose what is good, this might be considered positive. But the problem is that sinful human beings do not know the good God, nor do they know His good will.

For the people of Israel, good and evil were not just abstract ideas, but practical realities. Good referred to what was truly helpful and beneficial in life, and evil referred to what was harmful to life. God created our lives, knows our entire lives, and knows what is good and what is harmful for us. He is the One who leads us on the good path. But what about us? We do not even know what will happen right in front of us. Yet because sin entered humanity, people no longer entrust what is beneficial or harmful in their lives to God, but decide for themselves. What kind of life would that be?

What greatly challenges us is that we do not see this attitude in Jesus, who came as a perfect human being.
[Verse 30] By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.

Unlike us, Jesus did not judge or act according to His own will, but completely entrusted Himself to the will of God. This is what Jesus, who is without sin, is like. Human sinfulness trusts personal judgment more than God’s will. Therefore, the most fundamental reason for unbelief is not ignorance due to lack of knowledge, but self-sovereignty.

When God delivered the Israelites from Egypt, He sent ten plagues upon Egypt. In the wilderness, He led them with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, and through amazing miracles provided water to drink and meat to eat. Yet what was the constant phrase that came from the mouths of the Israelites? “In our opinion…”

The same is true of the church. When a church begins to place human judgment and authority above God’s will, it becomes corrupted. This is why the church once sold indulgences—an absurd act claiming that if someone bought them with money, their sins would be forgiven and their soul would be saved. Churches that did not value God’s will also created social instability, religious conflict, and hatred toward women, accusing many women of being witches and killing tens of thousands of them in so-called witch hunts. What was the fundamental problem in all of these cases? They determined good and evil not by God’s will, but by human judgment.

That is why the Reformer Martin Luther said, “The deepest problem of a sinner is the refusal to entrust oneself to the will of God.”

Please remember that faith is not a matter of how much we know or how much we understand, but a matter of how much we are able to lay down our own will.

[Application] When I face important decisions, do I first ask for God’s will, or do I try to fit God’s will into a conclusion I have already decided? Before the Lord, how often do I try to become king myself?

 

2. Because The Center Of Their Faith Is Not Christ

In today’s passage, Jesus makes a shocking statement in verse 39.
[Verse 39] You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me. 

At that time, the people of Israel—especially the religious leaders such as priests, scribes, and Pharisees—read, studied, and taught the Scriptures every day. The Scriptures at that time were the Old Testament. They read and studied God’s Word extensively, but what was the problem Jesus pointed out? He said that they failed to understand God’s will and plan of salvation through those Scriptures.

The entire Bible testifies about Jesus Christ. The Old Testament reveals the Messiah who would come to this world as Savior—that is, the Christ. In Genesis 3:15, which we looked at last Wednesday, the offspring of the woman is mentioned. This is the proto-gospel, declaring that Jesus Christ would come and destroy the devil.
[Genesis 3:15] And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.

Not only the Old Testament but also the New Testament testifies about Jesus. The Gospels and Epistles speak of Jesus who came as Savior according to the Old Testament Scriptures and of the life believers are to follow, while Revelation speaks of Jesus who will come again.

So why do we read, hear, study, memorize, and meditate on the Bible, which is the Word of God? Ultimately, it is so that through Scripture we may meet and experience Jesus Christ, the author and perfecter of our faith, and become more like Him. However, the religious leaders in Jesus’ time read and studied the Scriptures extensively, yet they neither came to Jesus nor believed in Him, whom the Scriptures pointed to. Jesus addresses this in verse 40.
[Verse 40] Yet you refuse to come to me to have life. 

The Bible itself must not become the goal. The same is true of prayer. Reading the Word and praying must not become ends in themselves. What, then, should be the goal?
[1 Timothy 4:5] Because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer. 

The Word and prayer are tools and means through which we are made holy. Holiness means becoming like Jesus in every way. Our ultimate purpose must be Jesus Christ. The core of the Christian faith is Christ. Please do not forget that everything we do—reading, memorizing, studying Scripture, sharing the Word in worship, and praying—is all for the purpose of meeting Jesus Christ and becoming more like Him.

[Application] Am I meeting Jesus through the Scriptures? Or am I filling the emptiness of my faith with mere biblical knowledge?

 

3. Because They Do Not Seek The Glory That Comes From God

Jesus explains the deepest reason why the Jews of His time did not believe in Him in verses 41 and following.
[Verse 44] How can you believe since you accept glory from one another but do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? 

What does Jesus say is the reason they do not believe? It is because they do not seek the glory that comes from God. What does it mean to seek glory? In verse 44, two kinds of glory are mentioned. One is glory that comes from God, and the other is glory that comes from people—“accept glory from one another.” This becomes a standard by which true faith and false faith are distinguished. Faith is always related to the direction in which glory is sought. True faith seeks glory that comes from God, while false faith seeks glory that comes from people. To put it another way, seeking glory can also be expressed as seeking recognition, praise, honor, or approval.

In verse 41, Jesus says that He does not accept glory from human beings. He did not carry out His ministry to gain human recognition or honor.
[Verse 41] I do not accept glory from human beings. 

The apostle Paul says something similar in Galatians 1:10. [Galatians 1:10] Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.

Let us also read verse 42. [Verse 42] But I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts.
Jesus says that seeking glory from God is because one loves God, and not seeking glory from God is because there is no love for God within that person.

Dear beloved saints, there is a mistake we often fall into in our life of faith. It is seeking glory from people. When we seek people’s approval, we become more afraid of people’s eyes than of God’s will, and we end up hindering God’s work.

J. C. Ryle (John Charles Ryle), an Anglican bishop, once said, “As long as we love the praise of men, we shall never believe in God.”

Dear beloved saints, through today’s message, the Lord challenges us: “Whose glory are you seeking as you live your life of faith?” Remember that human approval is sweet, but the glory of God is life.

[Application] Whose approval am I seeking as I live my life of faith? Can I serve with gratitude and joy even when there is no recognition or praise from others?

 

To summarize the message: Jesus does not ask us today, “Do you need more evidence?” He does not ask, “Do you need to know more in order to believe?” Instead, He asks this: “Do you truly want to believe in Me?”

May everyone here lay down their own judgments, empty their hearts of anything that is not Christ, long for the glory that comes from God, and fully believe in and rely on Jesus, becoming truly blessed lives that grow to be like Him. I earnestly bless you in the name of the Lord.

 

 

하늘소망교회(담임 손진국 목사)는 뉴질랜드 오클랜드 북부 실버데일에 세워진 한인교회로 '하나님의 마음으로 사람을 살리는 교회'입니다.

Hope of Heaven Baptist Church (Senior Pastor: Rev. Jinkook Sohn) is a Korean church established in Silverdale,Ch Auckland, New Zealand. It is a church that saves people with the heart of God.